Keep this philosophy in mind the next time you hear, or you are about to repeat a rumor.
In ancient Greece (469 - 399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom. One day
the great philosopher came upon an acquaintance, who ran up to him excitedly and said, "Socrates, do you know what I
just heard about one of your students?"
"Wait a
moment," Socrates replied. "Before you tell
me, I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Test of
Three."
"Test of Three?"
"That's correct," Socrates continued.
"Before you talk to me about my student let's take a
moment to test what you're going to
say. The first
test is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"
"No," the man replied, "actually I just heard about it."
"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know
if it's
true or not. Now let's try the second test, the test of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me
about my student
something good?"
"No, on the contrary."
"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me
something bad
about him even though you're not certain it's true?"
The
man shrugged, a little embarrassed.
Socrates continued, "You
may still pass though because there is a third test - the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student
going to be useful to me?"
"No, not really."
"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want
to tell
me is neither True nor Good nor even Useful, why tell it to me at all?"
The man was defeated and ashamed and said no more.
This is the reason Socrates was a great philosopher
and held in such high esteem.
It
also explains why Socrates never found out that
Plato was banging his wife.
LAUGHTER FROM THE GALLOWS
